Albury businessman and stock trader Allan Endresz has claimed another victory in his almost 20 year long legal battle with the Australian Supreme Court.
After a loan of $8.725 million was paid by the Commonwealth mistakenly to companies under Mr. Endresz’s control in 1998, a civil case was launched against Endresz in 1999. These funds were immediately frozen, resulting in a counterclaim from Endresz and his associates based on lost opportunity and potential revenue.
The $8.725 million was sent through legal channels by a consultant working for the federal government – David Muir Endresz claims that he assumed ‘legitimacy’ and structured his businesses accordingly. The counterclaim totals $4.3 billion.
The case has been ongoing for 19 years. This is in part due to the defendants’ firm belief that “it was a governmental stuff up” and their subsequently repeated appeals, however, the Supreme Court has also played a part in the extended proceedings by taking over 5 years to strike out the initial counterclaim.
Although Endresz and his investors’ most recent appeal was rejected, the judge ruled that by not changing the originating application to include new defendants when appropriate, the Commonwealth may not have been following due process. Counting this a win, Endresz believes that the counterclaim will eventually be successful.
